Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Co-signed on loan for brother's car- both are gone , can I sue him??
I cosigned on a loan w/my brother to pay for a used car, through a local bank. The bank (foolishly) gave him the title so that he could register it in Florida where he had recently moved. He was supposed to return the title to them- he didn't. He stopped making payments about two years ago. I either had to let them reposess the car or refinance the loan in my name to protect my credit. I have not had any contact with him (he won't return my calls)in over a year, and family members who know where he is won't tell me. I ordered a vehicle report from FL DMV that gives me what I hope is his current address. It also shows that he registered the car in his name. I have no car and no title, just payments. I just want to be reimbursed for what I have paid so far and require him to pay what's left on the loan. Where do I go from here?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Co-signed on loan for brother's car- both are gone , can I sue him??
Well you can clearly sue him to pay you back.
Since he is using the car and you are not at all,
I would think that you can get 100% from him.
And under Virginia law you can probably sue him
fairly easily even if you only have a last known
address, not the current address.
HOwever, practically speaking, you still have
to go out and get the money from him. That
means you will have to find him and find where
he has any money or assets, if any.
You could probably take a VIrginia judgment to
FLorida, "domesticate" it as a local judgment,
and repossess the car yourself.
But again, you would have to find him.
YOu might be able to pull a credit report to
help with this.
Jon
Re: Co-signed on loan for brother's car- both are gone , can I sue him??
I agree with Mr. Moseley's assertion "that under Virginia law you could probably sue him(your brother)fairly easily even if you had only the last known address, not the current address."
However, if in fact you did so, knowing full well that the Virginia address was no good and that in fact at the time that you filed the papers that it was virtually certain that your brother was somewhere in Florida and not in Virginia, any default judgment which you subsequently obtained against your brother and later attempted to domesticate in Florida would almost certainly be subject to challenge and a motion to either dismiss the attempt to domesticate it or later to set aside/vacate it, if somehow the initial domestication proceedings had not been opposed or challenged.
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